Sony Android TV 2016 - issue with 25fps

Plex Players Streaming Devices
1

Server Version#: 1.18.7.2457 (installed on Intel i5)
Player Version#: 7.29.2.16071

When I play video with frame rate: 25fps I have stuttering only on my Sony Android TV 2016.
Same video is perfect using WebOS LG or Browser Player.
Here below the details of the file:

Format                                   : Matroska
Format version                           : Version 2
File size                                : 3.24 GiB
Duration                                 : 41 min 17 s
Overall bit rate                         : 11.2 Mb/s
Encoded date                             : UTC 2018-11-01 08:49:31
Writing application                      : mkvmerge v8.5.2 ('Crosses') 64bit
Writing library                          : libebml v1.3.3 + libmatroska v1.4.4

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L4
Format settings                          : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, RefFrames               : 4 frames
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                                 : 41 min 17 s
Bit rate                                 : 10.5 Mb/s
Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
Height                                   : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 25.000 FPS
Original frame rate                      : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.202
Stream size                              : 3.02 GiB (93%)
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : Yes
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709

I’ve already tried to enable Refresh Rate Switching option without any result.

I tried the same video using other Android Video Players and I find out that:
MX Player with HW encode = Stuttering
MX Player with HW+ encode = perfect video

I’ve tried to remux my Mkvs files, changing audio/video fps from 25 to 23.976 and the video is perfect without any stuttering

Do you have any suggestion? I don’t want to remux half of my library.

UPDATE
I don’t know if it’s relevant but I noticed this in the log:

[RefreshRateBehaviour] Checking refresh rate
03-13 11:40:09.461  i: [RefreshRateBehaviour] Target refresh rate: 25.0
03-13 11:40:09.468  i: [RefreshRateBehaviour] Refresh rates available: 60.000004
03-13 11:40:09.468  i: [RefreshRateBehaviour] Current refresh rate: 60.000004
03-13 11:40:09.469  i: [RefreshRateBehaviour] Best refresh rate: 60.000004 (1920x1080)
2

Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 25.000 FPS
Original frame rate : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS

That doesn’t make sense. I’m thinking your file might be encoded wrong. Or it might just be a header issue. Try remuxing the file and see if the info gets fixed.

3

It’s not related to the file.
Same file are perfectly executed on fire TV - LG plex app and iphone app

4

Not all clients handle badly encoded files the same. There is definitely something wrong with your file. I don’t know if it’s bad enough to prevent playback. I’ll need a sample of that file to test. https://support.plex.tv/articles/201035968-generating-sample-files-from-media/

5

This is exactly my same problem, I’ve the exact same issue:

I opened a topic here where i added a log

I’m pretty sure the problem is here

Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 25.000 FPS
Original frame rate : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS

Because only this kind of videos give me this stuttering issue (720p or 1080p, doesn’t matter) in my Sony Smart TV with Plex

BTW With Plex for Iphone/Ipad/Desktop/Chrome this kind of videos work FINE without stuttering, the issue is only for PLEX for Android TV

In my original topic I Added a Sample (50M) too where I can reproduce this issue.

6

Got your sample from that thread. Yup, same issue. I’m checking to see what can be done, but basically there is something wrong with the way the file is encoded.

7

Thx for answer, but I’ve found many videos encoded in that way.

The issue is only for Plex on Android TV.

In general Plex for Ipad,Iphone,Win Desktop, Chrome (web) work fine with the same video, not stuttering at all. I tested all of them.

Dunno why the issue is only with Android TV, there is something wrong with this kind of player and Android TV itself

8

Do you have refresh rate switching enabled? Try toggling that to whatever it is not set to and see if it makes a difference.

9

I tried with refresh on and off, old player and new player.

No difference, same issue.

PS in the meantime I dunno if there is an easy way to encode differently the video avoiding the desync with audio tracks. It should be an hard work, because it’s not only one video but manys. And I Repeat, It happens only with plex for android tv, not with Plex for other devices

10

If the audio gets desynced then there is definitely a problem with the file. I noticed that your sample has a foreign audio track. Did you take the video from 1 source and the audio from another and combine them together? 24 fps is what’s typically used on US DVD’s/BR but 25 fps is used in some other countries.

11

I didn’t encode the file, just downloaded.

But Yes, I think the original source was the international bluray and the author made a mix with ITA and Eng tracks

It’s pretty common in mux with different audio tracks, many videos with the same structure have the same characteristics. I’ve many files with this structure and the issue always happen with Plex and Android TV

But how to explain this issue is only with Plex for Android TV and not with Plex for other devices?

If it’s a file issue, this problem should be always happen with every Plex player but instead it happens only with Plex for Android TV.

So I think there is something wrong with Plex and Android TV for this kind of files.

12

Sure but mixing framerates is bad.

Need to look into this. The Android app has a new-ish player so it probably hasn’t been tested for this.

13

Ok good, I hope you can fix this issue.

Too many videos with this structure to re-encode all of them.

I was thinking It could be something with HW acceleration, maybe Plex for other devices can use more resources, but it’s very weird Plex for ChromeBrowser doesn’t have this issue and work fine.

The old player for android tv has always this issue

14

https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=310393&page=11

I found this topic where there is a discussion about this issue.

In an early version of SPMC 17 was originally fixed but recently versions have the same problem

Other players too on Android tv have the same issue ( inbuilt players )

15

I went a little deeper in this topic, and basically discovered it’s just a setting the author changed in MKVtoolinix to adapt the original frame rate 23.976 to 25 frames in case you already have an audio track extracted from a PAL (25fps) source.

The alternative should be keep the original frame rate from the movie and just “stretch” the audio to match the files length. But in practice, no one use this second approach, basically everyone goes for the first option.

In the majority of players in other devices, this doesn’t create any issue but for internal players in android tv there is this stuttering issue, maybe because there is some locked correlation between a fixed refresh rate and 25fps, I dunno honestly (it’s quicker)

It would be great if it was possible to fix this issue by SW.

16

Any news?

17

Last release fixed this issue? I didn’t check.

18

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